Drabbles
by TCGeek
Summary: Short, unconnected drabbles updated when the inspiration hits. Number Six: Hello.
1. Silence

**In my own defense, I'm completely surprised I didn't think of starting something like this sooner. I don't know what I was thinking.**

**Well, with the last story I wrote being completely over the map with verb tenses (I couldn't make up my mind, so I just said 'screw it' and used both, for the record), I decided maybe it would be a good idea to try to redeem myself here. (And also, I'm rewriting the other one)  
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**So, I have been dying for fluff lately, and this is my outlet - where I'm going to come if I'm frustrated, sad, angry, happy, or just generally wanting to write about something random. These will most likely be all Derek and Angie stories, because well, I'm obsessed.**

**This plot makes no sense, but that's the point of this group of stories - doesn't have to make one lick of sense. If you give me drabble topics that you think I can keep short and you might like to see (fluffy plots), let me know and I might just write one. Tristan-the-Dreamer gave me a great one that I'm using for the next chapter, which has already been started.**

**Enough blabbering.**

**NOTE: This one gets a little bit 'adult' in the middle, though there is no sex. Or is there? You can think what you want, but it's basically just involved making out - nothing obscene. Just a warning!**

**Enjoy!  
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* * *

Through years of assisting each other, Derek and Angie had become very good at communicating with one another.

They could talk about nearly any situation, any problem, until it was fully resolved. Talking was the key to everything, and was why they shared a bond unlike any other team that had ever stepped foot into Caduceus – talking eased frustrations, talking changed uncomfortable atmospheres, talking worked out issues, and most importantly, strengthened a bond that was already impenetrable.

The night of a ceremony honoring the pair and all of their contributions to Caduceus Europe during their stay there, Angie and Derek came to a point in their friendship where, for the first time ever, there was no conversation.

Walking from the giant conference room after the event had ended, the pair turned down a deserted hallway together and walked towards the elevator that took them directly to their private suite on the top floor of the hotel they had just been honored in. Black sparkling evening dress flowing out behind her and heels clicking on the exquisite marble flooring adorning the whole first floor of the hotel, Angie Thompson stole a glance over at Derek when he failed to strike up a conversation, realizing for the first time in a long time, silence was more comfortable than conversation. It was confirmed as he sent a small reassuring smile her way, sliding his hands into his pockets as his eyes seemed to glaze over from lack of thought.

But at that moment, Derek Stiles was far from spaced out.

In fact, his mind had never before run that fast.

The silence between them at that moment was, for that night, oddly, nothing new. It had been a new addition to their time together through the entire ceremony, intensifying at some parts and fading to give way to gentle conversation in others.

However, the time that he had risen slowly from his seat, adjusting his striped black, silver, and navy blue tie as he moved gently to Angie's chair-side and extended his hand to her, had started the beginning of what was the most passionate encounter he had ever had with the nurse. He never remembered her looking so beautiful than the moment she had turned her head up to gaze at him questioningly, quickly catching the hint as, with her eyes never leaving his, gave him her hand and followed him out to the dance floor – once more, without a word.

Pulling her gently into him as she gave him the classic Angie smile that had grown to become his greatest comfort, the surgeon's world seemed to slow to a standstill as they danced, the feeling of holding her in his arms solidifying the fact that when she was with him, all other things were hopelessly irrelevant. It didn't matter that people were watching, taking pictures, most likely talking to themselves – from the moment he had gathered her in his arms, Derek shut out everything around him, his eyes never straying from hers once.

It had started out friendly and benign, but with a loving strength behind it that felt it would explode Derek's heart in his chest, the surgeon realized just how much he cared for the girl in front of him, entertaining thoughts of her feeling the same way – although he knew she had no idea.

Nearing the elevator, Derek thought to when the silence had seemingly intensified, making Angie perfectly aware of his thoughts and feelings about her without so much as one noise escaping his lips regarding the matter. Derek felt a tingle roll through his hands when he remembered how he had slid his hand around the back of her and pulled her closer – switched the grip of her hand from a standard clasp in favor of intertwining his fingers with hers and pulling them into his chest… and even moreso when he had lowered his forehead to rest on hers, eyes boring passionately into hers before she had broken their stare in favor of resting her head on his chest.

It was both the best and worst experience of his life – the feeling of holding something he never thought he could have, yet at the same time, realizing that the moment they shared was the closest he was ever going to get to what at that moment, seemed like such a shattered dream.

Gently pressing the 'up' button to the elevator, Derek stepped back until he was next to Angie and waited, his mind still going at a million miles a minute. He wished she would just say something – her voice had the distinct capability to eat away at any wounds inside of him, surprisingly, even those that resulted from the way his heart ached for her with each and every breath he took.

With the hallway lights around them off due to the late time of night, Angie and Derek stood in the one emergency running light near their private suite entrance, still waiting for the elevator to descend for them. Stealing a quick glance at her Derek felt his heart hammer away in his chest again, unable to believe how she could take his breath away in even her most normal moments. Eyes down on the floor and seemingly off in her own world, Angie stood with her hands gently clasped in front of her, curled hair spilling gently over her shoulders as she stood patiently, unaware of the impact she was having on her partner by just being herself.

As the doors to the elevator split open to allow them in, Angie squinted, blinded by the fully lit cab in contrast to the dark hallway. Derek extended his hand to let her go first, earning a smile as she moved forward, as he paused and taking a big breath before he followed. She rested against the back wall and he took his place against the left wall, the only wall that came equipped with a metal bar. He reached forward and pressed the '15' button, and the doors closed, beginning their ascent.

Resting on the bar and crossing his feet in front of him, Derek tried stealing a glance at Angie again, instead catching her eyes at the same time she chanced to look his way. She gave him a soft smile as their gaze lingered, eventually opting to look away from him and back at the floor.

The only noise during the elevator ride came when Angie let out a small scream, just as the elevator lurched to a stop, the lights in the cab dying out and becoming replaced by one small emergency running light that barely illuminated the two of them.

"What the heck just happened?" Derek whispered, voice slightly scratchy from disuse. "Are you okay?" he asked when he spotted Angie with her hand over her chest.

"Yeah…" she replied shakily. "Just scared me half to death, that's all."

Moving to the front of the elevator, Derek picked up the emergency phone just underneath the buttons, becoming agitated when it failed to produce a dial tone.

"Great." he said gently, "…no dial tone."

"I don't have my phone with me – do you have yours?" she asked, sighing as he shook his head.

"Nope. I forgot it upstairs." he said with a groan, closing his eyes and gently rubbing his face. He felt Angie's eyes on him as, suddenly feeling suffocated, he reached up and unfastened the top-most button on his black dress shirt, shortly after unknotting his tie and leaving it to hang gently around his neck.

"I don't know what to do, Ang." he simply said, pushing himself from the wall and taking a gentle step forward. "If nobody knows we're here, we might be stuck here for awhile…"

Unconsciously the surgeon began pacing the elevator slowly as Angie rested against the back wall, eyes following him as he moved. Ten minutes into pacing he stopped and rested against the wall again, shortly after becoming too antsy and walking forward slowly, though at a fraction of his original speed.

As he reached the far wall he stopped with a sigh and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against it for a moment as he tried to calm down the restless feelings inside of him, brown eyes popping open when he heard Angie move behind him.

Turning around, Derek watched as Angie pushed herself off of the wall she was resting on, taking a step forward before turning towards him, hands hanging gingerly at her sides. Derek felt a lump catch in his throat as she slowly brought her eyes up to meet his, feeling the passionate silence return at full force as they locked eyes, confused, as he had never before seen that particular look from her before. It was a mixture of determination and vulnerability, with the slightest hint of longing that caused Derek to feel as though his legs would give out on him at any minute, trying his best to hide his fear as she began slowly walking towards him, completely unsure of what she was going to do.

As she reached him, her body dangerously close to his, Derek watched Angie like a hawk as her slender hands reached up and gently latched onto his collar. Green eyes turning up towards him and her face laced with a calm collection, Angie turned her grip on his collar from gentle to firm as she quickly pushed him backward with a loud slam as his back hit the wall of the elevator. Sure that his eyes must have been bulging out of his head by that point, Derek shook as he watched a still very calm Angie move closer and closer to him, her eyes never leaving his as she turned her head upward, all the while pulling down gently on his collar. His head complied with her request and slowly dipped down until he could feel small tufts of her breath on his lips, parting his to try to breathe in a moment where he felt as though he would hyperventilate at any second. Eyes still locked, Derek could feel the aroma of her mint lip gloss on the very tip of his tongue as she breathed onto him, the millions of thoughts screaming in his mind finally silencing as he felt Angie's lips gently graze his lower one, opting to pull it into her mouth and softly nibble on it instead of kissing him as he sincerely hoped she would.

His eyes slowly blinked shut upon her touch, fighting to get a grasp on the situation as he surreptitiously stopped a groan from escaping his open mouth, her teeth slowly running over his bottom lip, every so often disappearing for her to gently suck on it instead. He stood paralyzed at her touch but feeling his body melt and give into her advances by the second, all the while wondering what could've possibly caused the shift in her. There was a pause as she gently pulled away, Derek gently blinking his eyes open to see that she was indeed looking at him, hands still firmly attached to his collar. They shared a passionate stare but it didn't last long as Angie traced one of her hands around to the back of his neck, using that and the grip on his shirt to pull his lips onto hers with a fire neither of them had ever experienced before, coupled with a lust and a love that had been building between them for quite some time.

It took a minute for Derek to get over the initial shock of how incredibly amazing it felt to share a kiss with the woman he had deemed as the love of his life, quickly rebounding as his hands raised up and grabbed onto her face, using the leverage to pull her as close to him as he could possibly manage to get her. The soft, romantic moment was soon gone, replaced by struggling to breathe, get enough of each other as humanly possible, hot, obsessive, completely enveloping kisses that left the pair nearly suffocated by one another.

Letting out a soft sigh as Derek began to gently suck on her tongue, Angie dropped her hands from his collar to his top button, unfastening it and the one underneath it and pulling open his shirt a little wider as she shoved him off of her and gently back against the wall once more. Moving forward with a lust that she found impossible to control, Angie's lips met Derek's skin just under his collarbone and continued upward, the surgeon finally losing the fight as a soft groan passed out of his mouth at the indescribable feeling. Suckling the sensitive skin on his neck, Angie continued upward slowly, her body pressed tightly against his as his loud breaths filled the air, gripping firmly onto her hips as his head extended backwards and eyes closed in the bliss she was throwing him into. His hands traced up her body as she began nibbling on his neck, leaving kisses underneath his jawline and eventually to his earlobe, which she pulled gently into her mouth with her teeth. Biting on it once, she let it go and brought her lips to his ear, her hands gently pressing against his chest as she leaned further into him and whispered the words he never in a million years thought he'd hear her say.

"_I love you..."_

Lips turning into a broad smile as he let out a small, indescribably happy chuckle, Derek brought his hands up to her face and pulled her close until they were nose to nose, dropping his smile in favor of a more serious expression.

"I love you, too…" he whispered back, stalling only for a second before moving forward and catching her lips again, fully welcoming the lust that was developing between them but making perfectly sure that he reflected the love he felt for her above everything else.

Soon they were on the other end of the elevator, Angie helping Derek shed his jacket as he lifted her up to sit on the bar he had been resting on earlier, his hands running under her dress and gripping the tops of her thighs firmly as they kissed, a feeling that he knew no matter how he tried, there was no way he was ever going to get enough of.

Silence, in this particular situation, was absolutely golden.

There was no way to put into words what Derek could say by running both of his hands through her hair, silky blonde locks spilling from his fingers and cascading all around them.

There was no way to say what he was feeling as he tugged on her hair and exposed her neck, dipping his head and licking all the way from the bottom of her chest to just below her ear – and there was no better way for Angie to respond than the moan she let loose and the way she raked her fingers through his hair, gripping onto it firmly and pulling him up and to her lips again.

As he had learned earlier that night, nothing Derek could say to or hear from Angie could ever replicate the feeling of holding her in his arms – caressing her face, running over her curves, pulling her closer when he remembered the times in the past that he could never do so…

The times that he laid awake at night, fighting to call her because he simply needed to hear her voice.

The times he had stopped himself from pouring his soul out to her, scared that it would make her disappear from his life.

The times when she would walk away seeing a smile on his face, but never know that once she had left that he would break down, tears running down his face at how unbelievably hard it was to have fallen so in love with her.

Sometimes, feelings are so strong, words simply cannot do them justice – and for Derek, it was the best moment of his life, getting to finally show Angie everything that she meant to him.

Loud, sporadic breaths had long taken place of anything intelligent the two could manage to say, and their skin brushing, lips meeting, and tongues slowly swirling against one another's seemed to finally resolve a matter that words could never even admit out loud. Eventually the impatience and animalism faded, replaced with the love that while hidden for so long, had always been there. Pulling back to smile lovingly at him, Angie gently brushed her nose over Derek's a few times as her hands raised up to hold his cheeks, her lips pressing against his forehead, down to his cheeks, and back to his lips again with the utmost affection.

Just as Derek put his hand through her hair again, both of them gasped loudly when the elevator kicked back to life, the blinding lights a sharp contrast to a light that had barely illuminated them enough to even see each other. A rosy tint grew on each other's cheeks as they surveyed their current situation, avoiding each other's eyes as they worked to figure out exactly what should be done. Derek's coat and tie were strewn out over the elevator floor as well as Angie's shoes, and the nurse was seated on the bar of the elevator wall, her legs slightly apart and dress hiked up to her knees. Derek was pressed against her tightly, one hand still in her hair and the other on her hip, a serious expression on his face as he stepped away from her and gently extended his hand, helping her onto her feet as he gathered their things off of the ground.

Silence flooded the small elevator as the pair collected themselves, Derek once again extending his hand outward to motion Angie forward and off the elevator into their dark suite as the doors opened. He sighed again as he walked after her, wondering just how the power outage had happened in the first place, but more importantly, what had sparked the moment they had just shared.

He found himself disinterested in that and slightly disappointed as Angie walked away and to her room, leaving Derek standing by the elevator as his room was on the opposite end of their accommodations. He simply watched her walk away before lowering his gaze to the ground, unsure of why he wasn't moving but fairly certain that unless it was with her, he didn't have any place special to be, anyway.

"Hey."

A gentle shout roused Derek's attention as he looked down the hallway, seeing Angie resting against her open doorframe, the sparkle in her eyes bright from even that far away.

"What's up?" he replied, scratching at the back of his neck as he saw her smile and then turn back to serious.

"Well…" she began, shifting her weight with a pause.

"…aren't you coming?" she finally finished, giggling as she noticed Derek's lips turn up into a smile, his body springing to life as he paced towards her with a deep, content breath. Reaching her, they stood eye to eye for a moment before she raised up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his passionately, holding gently onto his shirt for balance as he wrapped his arms firmly around her and pulled her as close as he could get her. With a smile as he pulled back, Derek took a deep breath as he followed Angie into her room, kicking the door shut behind them as they ducked inside together.

It was true – no matter what the issue was, Derek Stiles and Angie Thompson would never fail to talk their way through it.

But as they clearly learned that night, sometimes actions are more powerful than words can ever be.

* * *

**Did they do it? Did they?!**

**You're probably going to say they did. You're all pervs. Shame on you. Hahahaha, just kidding. (I'm the worst out of all of you).**

**See you next time!  
**


	2. Note

**More drabble-y nonsense - this one was inspired by an idea Tristan-the-Dreamer gave me the other day.**

**FLUFF. RANDOMNESS. ENJOY.  
**

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If there was one thing anyone at Caduceus would say about Derek Stiles, it was that he was seemingly unbreakable.

Optimism followed Derek no matter where he went in life. In a job with impossibly high stakes, the choices were simply optimism or desolation – and for a doctor hell-bent on wiping disease off the face of the planet, it was easy to see which road he always chose.

It took a lot to crush his positive outlook, but every once in a great while, a day would descend on Derek that crushed him to a point where he felt he simply could not go on. A point so heartbreaking, so defeating that he felt as though every beat of his heart hurt worse than the last.

And unfortunately enough for Derek and everyone that knew him, today was that day.

No matter what he had done that day, every step he took seemed to result in failure. From losing a patient, to receiving harsh reprimand for the loss from his usually supportive superiors, to dealing with car trouble, incorrectly filling out his paperwork and getting an earful from his girlfriend, to waking up too late to get his morning coffee, Derek hit a point somewhere in the day that he simply could not smile his way out of – a point he felt that if he didn't get out of Caduceus right then, that he would absolutely explode.

These circumstances were what brought Derek back to his apartment six hours earlier than expected, to sit in dark silence and try to think his way through the intangible mess that had become a seemingly normal Tuesday night.

Curled up in an old t-shirt and comfortable sweat pants that Angie had bought him for his birthday, Derek sat on his couch staring out the window of his apartment with a blank expression on his face, simply watching life go on below him. He wondered to himself how people go on living, never knowing that someone near them has had their world come to a complete standstill. He wondered about the family of the woman he had lost earlier that day, and thought about how they had to keep waking up every single day, knowing that even in a horrible tragedy, the world would not give a second thought to their unbearable pain.

While he knew that there were people out there that had it much worse than he did, Derek still wondered why he carried their much pain with him – why everyone else could move on, yet he was stuck depressed over someone he hadn't even known.

"_It's because you have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known, Derek..."_ Angie had told him earlier that day, failing to phase him as he chalked it up to a typical girlfriend response.

A soft sigh escaped him as he thought of Angie, remembering the pain in her eyes as he pushed her away in a time that he wanted nothing more than to fall into her – to crumble at her feet and have her put him back together. All he could remember was his stupid pride, stupid stubbornness that caused him to storm out of the doors of Caduceus instead of staying in her arms, as he was unwilling to let her see him cry.

Crying – a vulnerability that at that point in their relationship, he should've been able to show her, but was still unable to for a reason he couldn't understand.

He had done plenty of it after returning home, so physically and mentally exhausted that besides collapsing on the couch, it was the only thing capable of releasing the incomprehensible pressure that had built within his chest. However, when he was done he didn't feel much better, only able to think about how the one person that stuck by him no matter what was the one person he refused to let in… and he knew just by the way she looked at him, that it crushed her.

He was supposed to be her rock, her source of strength and unwavering support, not a man that couldn't keep control of his emotions. Derek had carried that stubbornness with him throughout his whole life and it was why every relationship he had ever been in had failed. He would go to the ends of the earth for Angie and do absolutely anything to see him smile, but what she truly wanted from him was for him to let her into his heart – let her be someone he could lean on… but he couldn't bring himself to show her that side of him, thinking that she would never again respect him for it.

Truth be told, Derek was expecting a phone call from Angie any minute saying that she was done with him, that she couldn't handle being pushed away anyone, as it usually ended up turning out for him. People in his past did nothing except grow incredibly frustrated at the doctor's ability to shove everyone away, and it made him that that he had never opened up to anyone – simple as it was, those who weren't willing to stick with him through tough times didn't deserve the most intimate parts of him, anyway.

But as he thought of that, sadly enough, he realized that Angie was the one person in his life that he felt he actually wanted to try for. The one person he could see giving that last piece of himself to, because she was the one person he loved and trusted endlessly.

In his depression and frustration earlier that day, Derek had made it perfectly clear that he did not want any sort of contact with anyone, including her. And though he had been serious about everyone else keeping their distance, somewhere in him hoped that she cared about him enough to look past what he was saying and fight to show him that someone was capable of caring. That someone believed he was worth the frustration and could genuinely prove to him that there was a person out there who would do whatever it took to be with him, even if that included waiting for him to open himself up.

But since he had left, the phone, his pager, the door – they were all silent. And Derek feared that as a result of his actions that day, that they would continue to be.

Scared that he had potentially destroyed a relationship he at one point had fought to make happen in the first place, Derek opted to shut off his brain, closing his eyes and resting against the back of his couch as he simply listened to the world continuing below him.

An hour passed and due to his aching back rousing him from sleep, Derek clumsily rose from the couch and with his blanket wrapped around him, began to walk back towards his bedroom, though it was short-lived as something caught his eye.

With a questioning stare, Derek stopped dead when he passed by his front door, noticing a plain, white envelope on the floor about a foot inside his apartment. So tired that he felt as though he would collapse right there, Derek had to force himself to stay awake as he curiously paced towards the envelope and lifted it gently into his hands. Moving to sit in a nearby chair, he pulled a folded piece of paper out of it and turned on a nearby lamp, beginning to read the writing in front of him.

_Derek,_

_I know you said you wanted your space, so that's why I left this note for you instead of calling or even knocking while I was here. _

_I just needed to give this to you to let you know that no matter what happens to you, that I will always be there for you to lean on. There are times like today that I get incredibly fed-up with how stubborn you are, but if I don't prove to you that there's someone out there that will stick with you through anything, you'll never know how much you are truly worth. You are everything to me, Derek, and even though you are used to being strong all the time, I know the sweet, kind-hearted, respectable man I fell in love with needs someone from time to time just like the rest of us, and it kills me that you won't let me be that person, because that is what I want more than anything in the world. I want to show you that even though you carry so much weight on your shoulders, that you don't need to be tough all the time – that it's what people like me are here for... to pick you up and put you back together in your darkest times, just like you always do for me. I know it's probably not going to be anytime soon, but I wish one day that you'll allow yourself to let someone take care of you, because as you've shown me, having someone that loves you unconditionally can make any problem nonexistent. _

_I know things got out of hand between us today, but I hope you know I'm not giving up without a fight... you have to realize how amazing you truly are, and that it's okay to fall apart every once in awhile – it makes you a human being, and it would never make me ever love you any less than I already do. Whenever you're ready, you know where to find me – I'm not going anywhere, and if you ever need me for even just a hug, you know I'll be there, no questions asked._

_  
Remember, even the strongest of us fall apart sometimes... but I'll always be here to put you back together._

_Love,_

_Angie._

Fresh tears running down his face at the completely selfless note he had been given, Derek was putting on his shoes and grabbing his keys within seconds of finishing it, the words he had just read cementing in his mind that she was the one he had been waiting for – the one that, just like she had said, was going to be there for him no matter how long it took for him to come around.

Realizing he never should've waited as long as he did, Derek threw open his apartment door, body ready to bolt down the stairs and to her place, though he was again stopped when he stepped outside.

"Hey…" Angie said with concern in her eyes, rising from her seat on the ground in the hallway and moving quickly to Derek, who stood stunned that she was even there. Standing just in front of him she reached up and gently wiped the tears from his cheeks, worried about him yet displaying a loving smirk when he nuzzled her hands with his face, his eyes closing softly.

They stood there for a minute before he pulled her inside, helping her shed her jacket and her purse before they again stood face to face, the nurse gently caressing his face as he wrapped his hands around her waist, sniffling.

"I'm s-so sorry…" he stuttered with a sniffle, a pained sob breaking its way from his lips as he lowered his head and gave into his emotions. "I'm s-sorry, Angie… I…"

"It's okay…" she whispered, pulling him into her arms and firmly holding him as her right hand gently rubbed up and down his back. "You don't ever have to be sorry for anything, Derek…"

"Yes I do…" he replied, head resting on her shoulder and arms tightly enveloping her, before she pulled away and took his hand in hers.

"Come here…" she whispered, walking him over to the couch and sitting him down. She bent in front of him and removed his shoes one by one, tossing them to the side as she climbed up on the couch with him and pulled him into her arms again, his head resting on her chest as he wound his arms around her waist tightly.

"The only thing you ever need to be sorry for is thinking that you have to be strong all the time, Derek…" Angie started, fingers gently scratching through his hair. "We have people we love in our lives for that exact reason – to pick us up when we fall down… it's impossible to do it all alone."

"I know…" Derek finally conceded. "And before you got here, I was just thinking about what an idiot I've been for always pushing you away…"

He turned his head up to her, smiling softly when she once again, brushed his tears away. "Thank you, for never giving up on me, Angie… it's how I know that when it comes to you, I finally got it right this time."

Angie smiled and leaned forward, catching Derek's lips gently. "Funny, because seeing you run out of your apartment to find me made me think the exact same thing."

"Which reminds me – pretty gutsy waiting out there for me… how long were you out there?"

Angie giggled. "An hour – I had a feeling you'd show eventually, and it looks like I was right."

She turned serious, fingers gently grazing his cheek as he stared up at her. "Please, just talk to me. About anything, and everything – there's nothing you can tell me that will ever make me love or respect you less…"

Derek chuckled softly. "Believe me, from now on, that's all I'm going to be doing with you – it feels good to know there's someone I can finally trust with my life."

After kissing her again, Derek snuggled back up into Angie's protective embrace, never feeling more loved in his entire life.

"You were right from the beginning about this…" he began softly a few minutes later, still curled up in her arms. "Nothing has ever made me feel better than knowing I can fall apart and you'll be there to make everything right again…"

Derek lifted up his head to see Angie smile before catching her lips again.

"I know it'll take some getting used to, but feel free to call me out on it… I want to get better at this for you, Angie – I love you, and I never want to make you feel like you're not the most important person in my world…"

Angie smiled again, planting a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Don't worry – whether you get it right away or it takes a little while, I'll be here every step of the way, just like always."

"I love you, Ang." he said gently with a soft squeeze to her waist as he rested his head against her chest again.

"I love you, too, Derek." was her reply, paired with another kiss to his forehead and her fingers softly running through his hair.

Waiting to see if he wished to talk about anything at the moment, Angie began to giggle when she heard slow, deep breaths coming from Derek, the short time he had taken to fall asleep a testament as to how exhausted he was.

So with a gentle nudge and some creative maneuvering to help him stand, Angie walked Derek over into his bedroom and laid him down gently, leaning down to give him a kiss before moving to walk away.

"Wait, Ang... I need you... please don't leave…"" Derek whispered as he caught her right before she could leave, an offer that the nurse couldn't turn down as she crawled under the sheets with him.

He may not have wanted to talk right then, but knowing that he was finally opening up to her made Angie feel like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She smiled when his arm gently extended around her waist right before he completely passed out, holding onto her firmly even in his exhaustion – a move that made her realize that even though he didn't always admit it, Derek really did need her.

Angie smiled before she drifted off to sleep, Derek's face the last thing crossing her mind before the passed out.

It was glad he could finally admit he needed her, because now she knew he finally understood how badly she had always needed him.


	3. Pictures

**I think out of this whole set of stories, THIS is finally appropriate drabble length.**

**I should be working on a massive presentation that's due tomorrow that I haven't even STARTED yet, but when has that stopped me before?**

**More random fluff. I'm loving this, and I hope you are too. Again, feel free to join me at any time. :)**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

On an infrequent day where Derek Stiles was free of responsibility at work, he would retreat to his desk and gaze at the many pictures that adorned it.

With the passing days and weeks that he and Angie were still a couple, Derek couldn't help but continue to add more pictures of the two of them to a place he spent most of his time, finding that they brought him great solace no matter what his mood.

When he was bored or tired, he would rest his head on his arms and gaze at the impromptu picture snapped of them on a hammock on the beach, thinking back to just before they had to admit their otherwise secret relationship to everyone due to Leslie's handy camerawork. And even after Angie had nearly killed him, they returned to the hammock together, Derek sure that he could lay there with her the rest of his life.

When he grew frustrated or overworked, Derek found himself gazing at the picture of he and Angie at a costume party, dressed as Catwoman and Superman, respectively. He could identify his frustrations with those he had experienced that night, watching another drunk member of the party nearly molest Angie when he had left to get her a drink. However, nothing dissipated the pressure in his skull than the chuckles that came from remembering how she had beat the living hell out of him, in pure superhero style, but with all the grace that she usually carried.

If Derek was happy or otherwise ambivalent, nothing could make him smile like the picture of him and Angie at their first black tie event, remembering how her curled hair and long flowing dress had literally taken his breath away as she opened the door of her apartment to greet him. It had been an absolutely perfect evening, and when the surgeon had finally taken a chance and poured his heart out to her, he was met with a passionate kiss that would be the first of many for him and the woman he had fallen head over heels for.

For professionalism's sake Derek kept the remainder of the pictures he loved in a small album in his second desk drawer, and when circumstances warranted it, he would remove them and relive his own personal love story. With every picture his smile grew, realizing that while she put up quite the fight at times, Angie was everything he had ever hoped to find, and then some – and without a doubt, most definitely worth any fight.

But every time chocolate brown eyes would raise from the photographs and scan across the room his heart would sink a little bit, remembering that a computer was the only thing that rested on the surface of Angie's desk.

"_Why don't you have any pictures of us on your desk?"_ he had gently questioned one day while adding yet another photo to his desk and realizing that while his collection was growing, hers was non-existent.

"_I don't keep personal effects at work."_ was her simple reply, and was honestly what Derek had expected from her the second it had left his mouth. _"I mean, it's not like we're married, and besides – we work together... it's unprofessional and a conflict of interest."_

Though he knew that professionalism was most likely her greatest strength, Derek also cited it as a weakness in moments such as that. Sad to see that she wouldn't deviate at all in her ethical views, Derek sometimes couldn't help but feel that she wasn't proud of their relationship.

The pair had known about Angie's emotional insecurity from the start of their relationship, and while it had gotten much better with a lot of work and by Derek being the genuine boyfriend that he promised her he would be, there were still times when she would push him away. Pick fights when she felt too vulnerable, push him away when he got too close, and do everything in her power to admit she wasn't falling for him as hard as she really was.

"_I don't understand why you're so scared of love, Angie. I don't know why you're stopping yourself from it, because I don't know how many times I have to explain to you that I would never do anything to break your heart."_

Frustrated by the prior night and feeling quite negative about going to work, Derek called in to let Caduceus know he'd be a few hours late, taking the extra time for himself the next morning. He slept in to make up for being awake and upset all night, got himself some gourmet coffee to cure his crabbiness, and went for a run to calm himself down before finally walking into the doors of Caduceus showered, shaved, yet still feeling as though his relationship was a lost cause.

With his head down, Derek opened the door to his and Angie's office, seeing her sitting at her desk but passing his eyes over her and to his desk, instead. He could hear her rise from her chair as he organized his things, but as he turned around, it was not her that caught his attention.

Right next to her computer, in a plain, wooden black frame, was a picture. A picture of him and her all dressed up for her 24th birthday, standing together on small street in Paris with the bright lights of the Eiffel Tower in the background.

His gaze still serious, he turned to her questioningly. "You put a picture up." he said as a general statement instead of in disbelief.

She just nodded quietly, letting him look at the picture and then back at her again, his expression lightening just a bit.

"Why did you do that?"

Angie sighed with a soft smile and stepped towards him, looking more nervous and vulnerable than he had ever seen her before.

"Because…" she started, stopping as she reached him and gently placed her hands on his chest, looking down at the floor and the back up at him again, this time letting out a big breath and smiling as warmly as he had ever seen.

"…because that's the kinds of things you do when you're in love."


	4. Morning

**Hey kiddos, it's been awhile!**

**Three updates:**

**1) Yes, I'm engaged. Getting married next May :)**

**2) Yes, Hostage is coming - I'm about halfway through the next chapter as we speak -- as a matter of fact, this was a 'writer's un-block' for a part of the chapter I got stuck on. IT IS COMING.**

**3) Yes, I'm still ridiculously busy.**

**This story is weird and random, and just over 1700 words - GO ME! It's not my usual writing style, a little more on the short/drabble style -which is perfect because this is a drabble series! Woohoo!  
**

**It's nothing special, but I hope you like it still!**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Derek Stiles awoke one early Saturday morning with a smile on his face – a rare feat for the self-proclaimed "morning hater".

Generally grumpy and usually unable to pull himself from slumber, Derek had no trouble waking up that morning, even finding his early arising enjoyable. As he rolled over, gentle sunlight trickling in his window, his smile broadened as he remembered the reason for his happiness.

Derek's good mood that morning was all due to one person: his faithful assistant. The woman he spent seemingly every day and night with, who been with him through everything, and who he grew closer with by each passing day.

…and who, coincidentally, just happened to be next to him that very morning, still sound asleep.

Although they had done nothing but sleep, it was still the first time Angie had ever slept over at his place since they started dating. And Derek, never having liked anyone enough to want them to sleep over before Angie, couldn't remember a feeling that made him smile more than watching her sleep so close to him – face peaceful and without a care in the world.

She was adorable, and he knew there was nobody in the world luckier than he was.

Suddenly realizing that he had to make a good impression on her the first morning she woke up with him, Derek's smile faded a little, wondering where he should start.

Letting out a soft sigh he recoiled slightly, finding the perfect place to begin.

…Getting rid of his morning breath before she woke up.

Before gently rolling out of bed, Derek thought some more, also realizing that breakfast in bed would be a nice way for her to start her day. Although, knowing his culinary skills, taking her out to eat might be better… but he could always give it a shot, first.

Staring back over at her Derek smiled again, wishing he wasn't so blind so that he could actually see her without the assistance of his glasses. Still looking her way he extended his left hand out to his nightstand, trying to feel around for them as best he could.

This was the first morning she would ever wake up next to him, and he hoped it would be the start of many more… making this a day to remember was crucial, and he was going to do just that. Instead of being the slightly dorky, clumsy boyfriend that she was undoubtedly used to by now, he was going to knock her off her feet.

_Except I have to find my damn glasses, first..._

And just as he thought that, his hand hit the wire frames, finally prying his gaze from Angie as he heard them clatter onto the floor.

_Oh, shit... just what I need right now..._

With a sigh, Derek gently peeled back the blankets of his bed and swung his legs to the side, trying to see the glasses on the floor but having absolutely no luck.

_I am seriously blind..._

Tapping his toes around on the ground, he felt nothing in the area surrounding his feet, making it safe for him to plant them fully, lower to the ground, and start looking for his lost spectacles.

_CRUNCH!_

…except he didn't realize that in feeling around with his toes, that they had been right underneath his left heel.

"Oh no… nooooo, no, no, nooo!" he whispered under his breath, exercising no caution as he scurried down to the floor.

Feeling around and finally locating the frames, Derek pulled them up to his face and bit back a frustrated scream – both lenses were cracked, the images in front of him now something like a funhouse mirror.

In other words, he couldn't see shit.

_Of course, of all days, this had to happen TODAY._

It was then that Derek Stiles decided the ultimate goal of the universe was to completely screw him over for the rest of his life.

Seated on the floor and trying to figure out what he could possibly do, Derek put the glasses on and maneuvered as best he could to the bathroom, using the mirror to see the extent of the damage, and if it was in any way fixable. But as he arrived at his sink and half of his left lens fell off of the frame and onto the counter, Derek couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Son of a BITCH!"

He hung his head and paused for a moment, closing his eyes and trying to regain some of his sanity before a soft voice caught his attention.

"D-Derek?"

Whirling around quickly, Derek could faintly make out Angie's figure in his bed, now sitting completely up. He mentally kicked himself twice: once for momentarily forgetting that she was there when he had decided to have his little outburst, and twice for letting her see him like that.

"Oh God, Derek! What happened to your glasses?!"

This could not be going more horribly if he tried.

"Its fine, Angie… I just had a…"

Before he could even finish his thought she was in front of him, grasping his hand and pulling him cautiously to sit down on his bed. They both crawled into the middle and she plucked the frames from his face, examining them herself, before she started to giggle a little bit.

"…what did you do to these?" she asked in astonishment at the amount of damage he had managed to cause. Her slightly bed-headed hair fell over her shoulder as she looked at him sympathetically, knowing how blind he was from the one time she had taken his glasses and put them on herself.

He sighed unhappily. "I stepped on them this morning when I was getting up."

She blinked curiously at him, though he had no idea. "When you were getting up? You never get up early.

He paused nervously. "S-Sure I do, all the time! I was just getting up to… uh… yeah."

Angie smirked, knowing she was catching him in something, but unsure of what it was just yet. "You have not ever gotten up early on a day off since I've known you… Were you… going somewhere?"

He sighed again with a hint of disappointment.

"…No."

"Derek?"

Another sigh.

"Alright fine… I was getting up to make you breakfast…"

Angie's face suddenly lit up with a bright smile, knowing that nearly every time Derek tried to be suave, his klutzy moments took over instead.

But secretly, she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Derek, that's so sweet… but you don't have to go through all that trouble…"

He hung his head a little bit at the mention, hands trying to feel around for one of hers and failing miserably. She eventually got the hint and grabbed onto his hands, also turning his face up to look at her.

"I wanted to do something nice for you, to show you how special you are to me… and that I hope you spend all your nights with me. I loved waking up next to you this morning."

Angie smiled and 'awwed' gently, placing a kiss on Derek's cheek and watching as he blushed slightly.

"I want to spend all my nights with you, too… and you should know by now that you don't have to be suave to impress me. I like you just the way you are – _especially_ your extreme klutziness."

Derek laughed at the statement and nodded to her (or in her general direction) with a smile.

"Alright… well, I will take you out to dinner later to make up for it, anyway. But first, I need to go to the ophthalmologist and get new glasses before I severely injure myself."

Angie giggled. "Okay, I'll help you get ready in just…"

She was cut off of her spiel by a soft beeping coming from the bedside table, belonging to her phone. It was barely audible, but she rushed to quickly shut it off as soon as it began to ring.

"…what was that?" he asked her, unable to see the slight nervousness that now adorned her.

"It was nothing, just an alarm…"

"An alarm for what?"

"Nothing, just an alarm."

Derek paused. "You don't just set alarms for nothing, Angie. What was it for?"

"I told you, it was notthiiiiiing!" she whined, tired of his berating. "I just… forgot to unset it, that's all!"

He paused again.

"…Angie?"

Knowing she wasn't going to get out of it, she finally groaned loudly. "Fine! It was an alarm to wake up before you did so I could put on some makeup and fix my bed-head before you saw, alright?"

Instead of making fun of her like she expected, Derek just smiled, knowing that he really had found someone he could always just be himself with.

"Whaaat?" she asked, seeing his broad smile and shortly after donning one herself.

"Nothing – you're just cute… it's funny how we think so much alike. And I love knowing that I can always be myself with you." he said, smiling when he felt her coming closer.

Gently, Angie placed a kiss on Derek's lips and lingered for a moment, before pulling back and putting herself at face-level with him.

"…that's what I love about us too." she replied with another soft kiss, before pulling away for good to go get dressed.

He smiled as he heard her walking away, laying back down in bed until she was ready to help him find his way around.

"Oh, and Derek…?"

"Hmm?"

"…you really should do something about that morning breath…"

With a loud unhappy groan, Derek rolled over and pulled a pillow over his face as Angie began cracking up, always knowing just how to push his buttons. She shut the bathroom door and he could hear her brushing her teeth within a few seconds, mad that he couldn't tease her back.

No matter how many times he would try to go over the top for her, Derek knew that the best way to charm Angie was simply by being himself… his happy-go-lucky, extremely clumsy, completely un-suave in every way self.

He was definitely lucky, alright.


	5. Ice Cream

**This one is just a tool to get my creative juices flowing (I know I say this a lot but it's true this time). **

**I wanted to just write something random, and what better things to write about than true stories, right? (This happened to my husband and I last week).**

**I'm starting to get back in my chapter stories, but this one is just for fun. :) Enjoy!**

* * *

"It is so freaking hot out."

Derek Stiles walked in the front door of his and Angie's new house, a smile growing on his face as he noticed her sprawled out on the couch. Her head rested back against the headrest, her arms and legs shot out every which way in a vain attempt to try to keep herself cool. He barely had the time to enjoy the sight after sharing his thoughts about the weather before his irritated wife shot him a death glare.

"It is not just hot OUT, Derek... it is also hot IN. As in, IN this house. It is beyond freaking hot in this house."

Derek sighed as he closed the door, walking into their new house and plopping on the couch. By her raised eyebrow he knew she wanted no body heat within a mile of her, but as of that moment, it was the only piece of furniture they had been able to move in during the ridiculous heat wave...

Derek's eyes panned over to the entertainment center on the other side of the room.

"_Well, this is the only piece of furniture Angie won't kill me if I sit on..._"

"Did you call the air conditioning people?" Angie asked for nearly the fifth time that afternoon.

"Yes Angie. I told you I called them earlier. They said when I called them this morning that they would be here between one and five."

Angie raised up her right hand, glancing at the pink watch Derek had given her as she felt her frustration grow.

It was 1:05.

"This SUCKS!" she cried, slapping her hands down on the couch. "It's a billion degrees out, the car takes forever to cool off so it's not even worth it to go anywhere, and nobody we know is anywhere near here so we can't even go mooch off of them!"

Derek looked over at her with a smirk, knowing her tirade was far from over.

"And this house!" she continued. "How is it that everything is running smoothly, but the second they hand us the keys all our crap starts breaking? And seriously, the air? Why couldn't something USELESS have gone, like the fricken stove or something!"

"The stove isn't useless." Derek replied simply.

Angie shot him another look of death. Being hot and uncomfortable really affected her more than it did normal people.

"It's useless to you! When's the last time you've even cooked?"

Derek paused for a moment to honestly ponder that question before rising to his feet and walking towards the front door.

Watching him walk towards the exit, Angie grew louder.

"Where are you going? I'm talking to you!"

Derek stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around, calm as could be.

"You're doing that scary anger thing again. So I, am going to go sit outside for a few."

Angie suddenly got quiet realizing he was right. Sometimes it didn't make sense why he never got as riled up about things as she did. But through their marriage, she quickly learned that if he wasn't there to balance her out, one of them would have killed the other one by now.

Feeling the heat immediately on his face, Derek walked out onto the front porch and sat on top of the banister, swinging his legs over until his body was facing the front yard. A familiar song started to play in his head, and as he began to wonder where it was coming from, he heard his wife exuberantly yell in the living room...

"ICE CREAM TRUCK!"

A thought clicked in Derek's brain. There was absolutely nothing in their kitchen, and it was too hot out to even bother driving ten minutes away to the grocery store. Ice cream would be the perfect bribe to cheer Angie up and hopefully stop her from yelling at everything... at least for the time being.

Now the question: Where the hell was the damn thing?

The Stiles' had just set up residence on a quaint little street with many other streets intersecting and bordering it. Nothing fancy, just something they could call home.

But Derek would soon find out that the problem with this home, is that for some unknown reason, the ice cream truck avoided it at all costs. He waited for fifteen minutes hoping to see the truck come down their street, but nothing. He watched far to his right as it passed down the street perpendicular to theirs, but still didn't come down their way.

Nearly scaring him off of the porch, Angie suddenly burst out of the house with determination on her face. "Where is that truck?"

"I have no idea." was her husband's simple reply. "I can still hear it, but it hasn't come this way."

And no sooner did the words leave Derek's mouth than he looked to his left to see the truck on the street perpendicular to theirs again, smiling as he prepared for it to turn onto their street...

...and feeling the worst rage he ever remembered feeling when he watched it turn onto their street, but in the opposite direction.

Both he and Angie sat stunned.

"Can you believe that?" she exclaimed with an incredulous laugh. "YOU STUPID TRUCK!" she yelled loudly into the neighborhood before looking back at her husband who was strangely silent.

"Derek?" she asked, turning shocked when he suddenly catapulted himself off the porch and started sprinting down the street.

"DEREK! What..?"

The surgeon began in a full run but stopped momentarily to kick his flip-flops into the neighbor's bushes, as he would later claim, they were slowing him down.

"You've got to be kidding." Angie said under her breath, taking off after Derek and scooping up his shoes on the way.

A block down, Angie noticed her husband hang a hard left after the truck, hearing it's melody continuing to play but knowing that he most likely wasn't going to catch it.

Until, that is, she rounded the corner for herself and saw Derek standing at the side of the truck with a big grin on his face, laughing with the driver inside. She ran up to the two of them just in time to hear her husband say "Do me a favor and make sure you never skip our house again, alright?"

Angie smiled just as Derek turned to her and mirrored her expression, his hand already pulling out his wallet.

"What can I get for you, miss?" the driver inside asked, still laughing from seeing Derek in his rearview mirror.

"A strawberry shortcake... and a bottle of water for my husband." she said with a laugh, hand reaching into her pocket where she pulled out a twenty and held it out towards the man.

"Angie, no – I'll take care of it." Derek replied, pushing her hand down though she fought forward and all but stuck her hand in the man's face.

"Uh..." the driver started with a laugh. "I don't want to get into trouble here... who's paying?"

"Take this and you can keep the change." Angie said, the driver quick to snatch the bill from her hands as Derek looked on incredulously at his wife's bargaining tactics.

She grabbed his chin and pulled him in for a quick kiss, faces still close as she smiled.

"If you chased it two blocks for me, the least I can do is buy."

* * *

**So I definitely didn't give an ice cream man 20 bucks and this happened while we were at a friend's house (who seriously have no AC in their house whatsoever. lame) but I DID watch my other half chase an ice cream truck down two blocks during a crazy heat wave. Good times. **

**Hope you liked it!**


	6. Hello

**Okay. This is nothing new by any means. It's from 2009. But, I realized it was in my DeviantArt account and not here, and I decided to upload it. Also just wanted to let you know that it's unfinished... it was supposed to be under 1000 words just to jumpstart me to write and I way overblew it (not a surprise).**

**Just figured I would share - enjoy!  
**

* * *

Derek Stiles stood in his apartment on his Thursday off, on his Blackberry with Angie Thompson, trying to figure out a dilemma.

Derek had made fun of Angie's beater car a lot over the time they had known each other, but when they met years ago, she told him flatly that it was a great car, and she would "drive it until she drove it into the ground".

And as of that Thursday morning, into the ground the car went, along with Angie's certainty that it would live forever.

Though car-less and quite a distance away from her work, Derek still had to argue with Angie to get her to let him help her – just like always.

"_You're not coming all the way out here to get me, Derek! It's ridiculous!"_

"Except its not ridiculous, and you don't have a choice." he replied with a smile. "What's ridiculous is thinking that I'd let you, a nurse of Caduceus and the only person who knows how I like my coffee, ride the bus to our midnight shift."

"_Oh wow, Derek – those are the best things you can come up with about me?"_ she said with a scoff and a laugh._ "That's reassuring... I almost forgot how BLESSED I am to know how to make a good cup of coffee, thank you SO much for reminding me!"_

Both were laughing by this point – Derek knew there were many more things that made her special to him, but teasing her was much more fun.

"C'mon, Ang, it's really no big deal, I'd feel much better if you'd just let me pick you up…" he said, pausing to let the sincerity sink in before he began grinning again.

"And besides… I can always think of things you can do for me, you know – if you still feel bad later…"

There was a pause.

"_How about I don't beat your butt for that last part, and we call it even."_

Derek smiled as she laughed on the other end. "Sounds like a deal, Ang – see you tonight."

No sooner did Derek end the call with Angie than a haphazard and slow knock resounded against the door, making the surgeon laugh for the fact he knew exactly who the depressed knock was coming from.

Walking to the door and sliding his Blackberry into his back pocket without locking the keyboard, Derek opened the door to an extremely forlorn looking Tyler Chase – a rare commodity.

"You could not be less excited about this if you tried, could you?" Derek quipped with a laugh as Tyler shoved the stack of magazines in his hands into Derek's and pushed past him into the apartment.

Derek stood there for a moment, smiling. "Sure Ty, I'll take those for you. And please, come in."

Shutting the door and turning around, Derek laughed when he saw Tyler with his face mashed into the kitchen table, swearing he could hear a consistent whine coming from him.

"Oh come on – there's no way it can be that bad…" Derek said, taking a seat at the table across from Tyler and gently placing the stack of various wedding magazines between the two of them.

"Centerpieces and the groomsmen's tuxes." Tyler finally said, his hand lazily holding up his head as if it weighed a million pounds. "Tuxes I understand – but how in the hell did I get centerpieces?"

Derek laughed as Tyler finally let his head hit the table, overdramatic as always.

"Wedding plans are ruining my life, dude." he groaned into the wood, earning nothing besides a sympathetic laugh from Derek.

"Oh, suck it up – worse things have happened to you." Derek replied, grabbing the first magazine on the stack and flipping it open.

Tyler raised his head. "Name _one._"

Derek stared back at him, slowly raising an eyebrow as if to ask, "_Do you really want me to go there?_"

Tyler sighed, knowing exactly what that eyebrow meant as soon as it was raised. "Fine, you win – oh, and you also suck." he grumbled, grabbing a magazine himself.

The apartment was silent as both men flipped through virtually foreign articles and pictures, taking the time to stop and admire the occasional bridal model from time to time.

"Hey, what about these?" Derek said, ripping out a picture of a tux and placing it on the table.

"Hmm…" Tyler said. "I actually really like those – but, they have to match the blue Leslie picked out for her dresses…"

"Alright…" Derek said, reaching into the stack of wedding paraphernalia and pulling out a catalog from the local tuxedo rental store.

"Well, if you do these here…" he said, pointing at the magazine clip out, "…then you can pair them with black vests and black shirts and a matching blue tie."

"Hang on, lemme think about this for a minute…" Tyler said, leaning back with the pictures as Derek returned to his magazine.

Somewhere between an article about honeymoon destinations and Q&A's from frantic brides that hated their mother-in-laws to be, Derek Stiles made what would be a fatal mistake, and shifted all his weight to his left leg, propping his right ankle up on his left knee.

For it was with this shift that he became a first-time offender of an accidental call to the last person he had spoken with, courtesy of putting his weight onto his phone in his back pocket.

Or in better terms:

A butt-dialer.

In her bathroom brushing her teeth, Angie Thompson finished and rushed to her nightstand to pick up her ringing telephone, noticing that it was Derek once more.

"Hello?" she asked, hearing nothing but a muffled conversation and slight shuffling.

Angie sighed, wondering what in the world Derek could be doing at that moment, and why he wasn't picking up.

"Hellooo?"

More shuffling, still no response.

"…Derek?"

Everything sounded so far away, leaving her to wonder if he had dialed her and then had to pull away from the phone momentarily, or if his phone was just hanging out in his pocket or something.

Finally frustrated, she pulled the phone back from her face and screamed "HELLO?" into the microphone, pulling it back to her ear to wait for a response.

Nothing.

With another sigh, Angie went to hang up the phone, before hearing the conversation on the other end continue to grow in volume until she could hear it a little better. It was still muffled, but after making out the phrase "blue tuxes" and "top hats", Angie knew exactly what was happening with Derek and decided to lay back on her bed and see where it went.

If eavesdropping were a sport, there would be no competition for Angie Thompson.

"Are you kidding me right now." Derek said as a matter-of-fact statement instead of a question. "Look at this – it's all black, with a bright blue silk tie that PERFECTLY matches Leslie's bridesmaids…!"

"In other words, LAME."

"Oh come on – how can you POSSIBLY think that bright blue tuxes with TOP hats would EVER fly with Leslie? Or ANYONE for that matter!"

"Because I like it and it's my wedding!" Tyler yelled back, now with a smile on his face.

Back in her apartment, Angie giggled at Tyler and his always exuberant yelling, glad that he had decided to do so because now she could hear him much better, though it was still quite muffled.

"Whatever." Derek finally conceded with a laugh. "You're right – it's your wedding, you should do what you want to do!"

"THANK YOU!" Tyler exclaimed back, still with unnecessary volume.

"Just, one thing..." Derek continued, a smirk on his face.

"…_please_ don't pitch this to Leslie unless I'm there to watch."

Angie laughed quietly again from back in her apartment at how funny Derek could be sometimes, though she knew he was right – Tyler pitching the idea of baby blue tuxedos to Leslie was going to turn out hilarious in every way… and secretly, she wanted to see it unravel as well.

"Oh, you are just so funny sometimes Dr. Stiles!" Tyler joked sarcastically in a higher-pitched voice than usual, before his tone suddenly changed completely, his facial expression changing to more of a devious nature.

Derek stared back at him and watched this unexpected transformation, knowing whatever was going to come of it was in no way good.

"You know, you almost had me there, Derek." he said with a smile and a chuckle, leaning back in his seat confidently. "You had me thinking that you were genuinely interested in this, but I know what's _really_ going on here…"

Derek laughed. "Oh? And what would that be, Sherlock?"

Tyler scowled, unable to hold it for long as a very specific smile spread across his face.

The one that he used when he was about to tease someone relentlessly.

"_This is boring."_ Angie thought to herself as she laid in bed, thinking of half a million other things that she should have been doing, rather than listening in on Tyler's and Derek's conversations about wedding junk.

Though as she sat up, ready to end the call and get on with the rest of her afternoon, things took a very unexpected turn.

"You look great in black, and you know it." Tyler began, lacing his fingers together and resting the behind his head.

"Uh, thanks?" Derek replied, confused. "I appreciate it, but I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh yes you do… remember the last time you wore all black with a bright colored tie?"

"Yeah, the Christmas party, what's your poi—"

"Exactly. And who complimented you on your 'ensemble' that night, Derek?"

"What? I don't know… a couple people…"

"Oh no no…" Tyler continued, bringing his hands forward to rest on the table. "I'm talking about the one compliment you received that turned your face fire engine red for half the night. Remember that one?"

Derek paused, slightly understanding but refusing to fess up. "No…"

Tyler sighed with frustration. "Angie, dude. Angie came up to you and gave you a hug, and told you that she had never remembered you looking more handsome. Are you following me yet?"

In his head, Derek smiled – he would never forget that moment and still thought about it quite frequently. However, the last thing he wanted to do was admit it to his best friend.

Angie, at the mention of her name, perked up and decided to hang on a little longer instead of terminating the call as she had been seconds away from doing so. At the mention of her name and the direction Tyler seemed to be going, curiosity took over and although she could barely hear them, she laid back down and continued listening.

"_I sure wish you guys would speak the hell up..."_

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that…" Derek said at the memory of the story, suddenly turning defensive. "A-And I was NOT "fire-engine" red! I didn't blush at all!"

Tyler rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Suuuure you didn't, whatever."

"I didn't!" Derek shot back, now slightly flustered and again, a little red in the face. Tyler, after seeing this, began laughing and alerted his friend that he was guilty as charged, once again.

"Do you even have a point here or are you just going to keep being a jerk?" Derek finally retorted, sick of being the butt of whatever joke Tyler was presenting.

"Geez, don't get your panties in a bunch." Tyler replied, ignoring the glare Derek sent his way.

"What I was getting at, is that you picked those colors for the tuxes because YOU look great in them, and apparently, Angie thinks so too!"

"That was one night, Tyler… this is ridiculous. What does Angie have to do with this anyway?"

Tyler paused, a giant smile sweeping his face.

"Because you're walking down the aisle with her. So if you look great in whatever you're wearing, she's going to notice. And maybe if she notices how handsome you are, she'll be unable to resist you and… I don't know, realize she loves you, or something."

Angie's eyebrows nearly shot up into her forehead at the daring comment from Tyler, a small chuckle escaping her lips. Although it was a nice theory he wasn't right in the slightest…

…Derek would be handsome to her no matter what he was wearing.

Suddenly Angie's stomach seemed to drop, realizing that Derek still had not said anything in response to Tyler. Yes, the conversation was ridiculous, but how did Derek feel about the whole situation? Was any of it true?

Listening intently, Angie heard Derek mumble a response, though she couldn't make it out in the least.

"No!" Angie hissed under her breath, unable to hear his comment now that he had quieted down. She remained seated perfectly still, trying to strain to hear anything she possibly could.

Until…

"_I am NOT an idiot!"_

Angie giggled quietly to herself, having the feeling that whatever Derek had said was some sort of insult – and she was right.

Derek again mumbled something to Tyler in rebuttal, which Angie still couldn't make out. She sighed unhappily, placing her phone on speakerphone quickly to try to amplify whatever sound she could as she listened intently.

Though without knowing it, Derek was about to help her out – big time.

"Yes you are an idiot. That was the most ridiculous scenario I've ever heard."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Ridiculous because I'm completely wrong, or ridiculous because you think she'll never see you like that?"

"Both!" Derek exclaimed, suddenly uncomfortable as he realized he had just dug himself a large hole.

Staring out her window with slight sadness, Angie didn't so much as stir at Derek's comment, but felt her heart drop at the slight disappointment laced in his voice.

"What do you mean, 'both'?" Tyler pressed, quickly agitating his friend as he wanted no part of this subject matter whatsoever.

And so he shifted uncomfortably in place, trying to think of a way to change the subject.

"You're quiet, which makes me think I'm right!"

"Well, you're not."

"Then answer me!"

Silence.

"Derek, hello? Say something!"

Derek thought momentarily, coming up with something very honest as a response.

"My ass is totally asleep." he stated, which was met with Tyler slapping himself in the forehead and sighing.

"No, I mean…"

"But really." Derek said, cutting him off. "My ass is totally asleep…"

Reaching backwards and shifting his weight off of the side with the phone in it, Derek groaned.

"Well no wonder, I've been sitting on this stupid rock for a half hour." he said, sliding his hand in his pocket and grasping the Blackberry.

"I'm sorry about your ass…" Tyler began with a small chuckle. "But you still need to answer me."

"Eh, it'll get the feeling back. And as for your question, I'd really rather not talk about it." Derek said, trying to free the phone from his pocket, though it was proving difficult as he was sitting on it.

"No, I think it's about time we talk about it because you always avoid this like the plague and I'm sick of it." Tyler finally retaliated, not caring about politeness anymore. "You need to give me one damn good reason as to why you won't just give it a shot – just tell her already, dude – it's been years!"

Angie froze back at her apartment, heart rate beginning to speed up. _"Tell me what?"_ she thought, waiting for the response and growing frustrated as Derek was shuffling the phone around, seemingly trying to remove it from his pocket.

"I don't have to justify anything – I have no idea what you're even talking about." Derek replied flatly, finally wrestling the phone from his pocket as he continued playing dumb.

"Sure you do!" Tyler retaliated, unwilling to let Derek's lies continue any further. "You're in LOVE with Angie and you always have been! You wouldn't forget something like that, Derek…"

Angie's eyes shot open wide and she rose quickly to sit up on her bed, her hand flying over her mouth at the sudden and completely unexpected twist of events. She sat completely still as she listened, hearing nothing but silence as she felt her stomach flip-flop, heart now racing out of control.

How had something so harmless turned serious so sudden? And how had she managed to stumble upon a piece of information that was obviously meant to be kept from her, the very person listening on the other line? Was Tyler being serious, was it a joke? He did like to relentlessly pick on Derek, after all… but still – when it was just the two of them? Millions of questions flooded Angie's brain as she thought the scenario over, wondering if she had really just heard what she thought she did.

She wanted to yell, "WHAT?" like she usually did when surprised with news, but Angie kept quiet especially because there was now what seemed like a tense silence between the two doctors on the other end.

And she was right.

* * *

**Bah. I should finish this one day. I suck.**

**Oh well, that's why its a story about drabbles I guess! :(**


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